DOUBLE FAKE

Dodgy businessman at the centre of FAKE Airbnb takeover now exposed as FAKE football coach who sparked security alert at Scotland training camp

- MARK McGIVERN

A SCOTS businessman at the centre of a fake Airbnb takeover deal can be revealed as a football fantasist who forged a prestigious licence to get a top coaching job.

Grant MacCusker astonished the Scottish business world last month after concocting a tale about one of his businesses being bought over by Airbnb in a megabucks deal.

He followed that up by launching a crowdfunder for a lettings company, which was exposed for inventing a roster of fake executive staff using photos pinched from the internet.

The Record can now reveal that MacCusker forged a Uefa B Licence in 2017, presenting it to Airdrie Football Club as he applied for the post of youth coach.

We can also reveal that MacCusker sparked a security alert after getting himself into a Scotland training base and trying to pass himself off as one of the coaching staff.

He was rumbled over the fake coaching licence after Airdrie executives routinely did a background security check, which involved assessing his credentials with the Scottish Football Association.

Bosses at the SFA were staggered to discover that the man with the fake licence was the same oddball who had turned up at Scotland's training base at the Mar Hall Hotel in Bishopton, Renfrewshire, earlier that year.

An Airdrie source said: The chap turned up when we were seeking to set up a youth academy in 2017 and the club was looking for coaches.